By the numbers: The cost and consequences of the Jan. 6 riot
Members of the House of Representatives gather in the chamber to vote on creation of a select committee to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, at the Capitol in Washington on June 30, 2021.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP/File
When a mob stormed the United States Capitol last Jan. 6 – hoping to stop a lost election they claimed was stolen – they were only inside for a few hours. Security forces cleared the building by the early evening.
After hours of debate in both houses of Congress, Joe Biden officially became president-elect the next morning.
The short insurrection failed, but it cast a long shadow. In the year since, the country’s politics have become more aggrieved. Voting rights have been restricted in some states and politicians have adjusted to death threats – which likely reached an all-time high in Congress in 2021.
Why We Wrote This
Amid the political rhetoric over the Jan. 6 riot, it can be easy to lose sight of what actually happened that day. Here are some of the hard facts around the attack and its fallout.
The insurrection was short. But as a House select committee investigates that day from Washington, the malaise in American politics speaks to its influence. A year later, Jan. 6 is still with us.
The graphic below charts the quest to unravel details of that day.